Editorial: All Whites deserve spotlight

OPINION: Match-winning All White Rory Fallon has lamented the lack of attention football gets in rugby-mad New Zealand.

By beating Bahrain 1-0 in Wellington on Saturday Fallon and his teammates have put the game front and centre in the New Zealand public's mind. It is the beautiful game's biggest boost here for 27 years. Watch out rugby.

Those who are old enough to recall when New Zealand made it into the World Cup finals in 1982 will realise what is in store. Back then the whole country got in behind the team as the campaign proved compelling. The players became household names as they bravely battled their way through the first round in Spain.

Our expectations were limited but that was not the point. The World Cup is one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles and having our national side there will only add to the interest. That interest is likely to be as infectious as it was in 1982.

In his lament Fallon revealed that one of the reasons he left New Zealand to play football in England was the "dark cloud" over the game caused by our obsession with rugby.

The clear blue water that separated the performances of the All Whites and the All Blacks at the weekend may go some way to scatter that cloud. At the very least it shows the national side will have serious competition in the hearts of sports fans in the next year.

On Saturday the All Whites were up against tough competition in a do-or-die match. The All Blacks were up against second raters in a match that mattered little.

The young and disorganised All Blacks side scratched out a 20-6 win over Italy, a side traditionally regarded internationally as bunnies in blue.

The All Whites had everything on the line and the side played its heart out to take us to the finals. It was a glorious moment in our sporting history. The All Whites were as good as the All Blacks were poor.

Because of football's status the All Whites are effectively a hodge podge of professionals players drawn together from all over the world at short notice. The fact our national football side is sponsored by Thailand's national airline and not our own speaks volumes.

What the players share is a passion for representing New Zealand at the top level.

Hopefully the Italian match has given coach Graham Henry pause for thought about putting up second rate sides in internationals. The former minnows of world rugby are not to be taken lightly any more.

The good news is that the All Blacks are clearly not peaking too early ahead of the Rugby World Cup in 2011. The All Whites may have done the team a favour.

Losing the spotlight to another code may not be a bad thing at a time when the national rugby side clearly needs to do some serious rebuilding.

- © Fairfax NZ News